Thank you all for reading and reviewing 'Where is home?' ^ v ^

I understand I told you to wait for this chapter if you want to know what Naru and the seller's conversation was about. Unfortunately, I had so many things I needed to do (I almost planned not to upload a chapter this week), I was only able to get this part of the supposed Chapter 8 uploaded for this week.

But I'll post a translated copy of the dialogue hopefully on the next chapter. For now, I hope you enjoy a sneak peak on how Naru explains it (sneak peak because the rest is on the next chapter).

I hope you all still read this with all the disclaimer on the translations though. * v *


"How much is it?" Mai asked Naru as he took the paper bags of vegetables from the seller.

She was ready to pull out money from her purse.

Naru ignored her question and instead pulled out a couple of euro bills from his pocket. He handed it to the seller without giving Mai a hint on how much what they bought was.

Mai watched the seller search his apron's pockets for Naru's change.

She frowned.

She didn't like to burden Naru with the expenses. After all, she was the one who wanted to get out of the house and shop for something to cook.

Mai looked up at Naru. First, she shared a room with Naru. Next, he paid the market expenses. Oh and earlier, on the bus, Naru was also the one who paid the fare.

Wasn't that just too much - Naru paying all the expenses while she just watched him do it?

Naru took his change and turned away.

Before he paid for the eggs and the vegetables, the seller told him that the best place to buy meat were just a few blocks away from them, and that they were just in time to catch the newly delivered meats.

Naru was about to walk away from the stall when Mai pulled his sleeve.

"Wait!" she said.

Naru turned and raised a brow at her.

More people were beginning to crowd the streets. They had to move fast if they planned to get home early.

"How do you say 'thank you' in Dutch?" Mai asked shyly.

Naru stared at her for a moment before he answered, "Dank u."

Mai turned to look at the seller and smiled cheerfully at him. "Dank u!"

The seller chuckled and nodded at her. "Graag gedaan," he replied.

Naru watched Mai pull him away from the stall while the seller entertained another customer. "Where do we go next, Naru?" she asked as she looked at the other stalls on the street.

Naru smirked and took her hand in his free one.

"Do you have meat on your list?" he asked.

"Oh yeah!" Mai said. "I do. How opposed are you to eating poultry?"


"HOW DARE YOU EXPLOIT MAI-CHAN?" Ayako yelled at Takumi for the N-th time that night.

Luckily, Takigawa already held her firmly from hurling nasty punches and kicks at Takumi.

It was Takumi's first day, or night, of work and Ayako immediately noticed him while she sat by the bar counter.

Takumi was delivering a plate of yakiniku on the counter when Ayako saw him. She quickly stood up, pulled his shirt collar and yeld something like, "You're that Takumi-kun who sold Mai-chan to England!"

As much as he wanted to laugh at the statement, Ayako was already too life-threatening to laugh at.

Takigawa quickly came to his rescue only to glare at him when he realized that Ayako was talking to the man who sent Mai away from Japan.

But before Takigawa himself beat his soul out of him, Yasuhara walked out of his office and ordered the three of them to settle everything at the back of the bar since it was causing quite a commotion in the establishment.

So there they were – beside the stinking trash bin – trying hard not to end up deaf at Ayako's high pitched nagging.

"Ayako," Takigawa called as he held her by the waist from behind. He was making sure that Ayako was five steps away from Takumi so she didn't hurt him.

Not that he cared for Takumi's well being.

He just wanted to be the one to beat him to death for putting Mai into such hardships.

Seriously! Mai wouldn't encounter that horrible monster of an employer and end up comatose in a hospital if Takumi didn't send her to England!

He should be punished for putting her through such fate!

"Are you siding with this bastard?" Ayako yelled at Takigawa. "You're siding with this selfish, heartless, BASTARD? LET GO OF ME, BOU-SAN, RIGHT NOW!"

"I'm not siding with him," Takigawa answered. "My ears are hurting with your yelling, and if you keep this up, we'll get arrested for disturbing the peace!"

Ayako scowled but kept her mouth shut.

Takigawa loudly cleared his throat before he spoke. "Oi," he said glaring at Takumi who was standing against the wall across them. "As much as I would LOVE to beat you up right now, Yasu asked me to be reasonable with you so I'll try to be reasonable with you without using my fists."

Takumi sighed and shyly looked away.

They had all the right to hate him.

Heck! He was expecting even Mai to hate him.

But she was just too much of an idiot to hate anyone, huh?

"Are you going to explain something to us?" Takigawa asked, raising a brow at him while his arms made sure that Ayako didn't make a move to attack Takumi.

Takumi took a deep breath. "You're both right," he said. "I don't deserve to be treated reasonably."

Ayako and Takigawa stared confused at Takumi.

"I sent her to England because I wanted the money," he said. "And partly because I…I wanted to make her happy. She wanted to go to England. I figured that if I sent her there, she would be happy and she would recognize how much I cared for her. I wasn't planning on making her live there permanently. I was really planning on-"

"Hold on a second," Takigawa said raising a hand at Takumi. "Are you saying you LIKE Mai-chan?"

Takumi took a deep breath and sighed. "Yes," he said. "I like her."

Ayako and Takigawa stared incredulously at Takumi.

"Is this your first time to court a girl?" Ayako asked.

"Eh? No," Takumi said shyly.

"Is this, if Mai-chan likes you back which I will not permit, your first time to have a girlfriend?" Takigawa asked.

"N-no," Takumi answered. "Why are you asking me those questions?"

"Uh, let's see," Takigawa said acting like he was pondering on a very serious idea. "Because sending the girl you love away for money isn't the way to get her to like you back?"

Takumi glared at them. "Well you didn't exactly let me finish!" he said. "I was planning on using the money I earned in sending her there, to get her back to Japan once she's done with what she wants to do there!"

"Oh," Takigawa and Ayako said slowly, nodding.

"It's still stupid though," Ayako said folding her arms over her chest. "I mean seriously. How sure are you that the money you earn in getting her there is going to be enough to get her back? Did you have any idea how much it costs to get a flight to England? Not to mention get a working passport."

"I was promised an ample amount of money," Takumi said frowning. "An amount of money enough to take me there and get the two of us back here to Japan."

"And did you get it?" Takigawa asked.

"No," Takumi said looking away. "I didn't know I had to send her there as a prostitute to earn that much money."

"WHAT?" Ayako and Takigawa yelled.

"I didn't get the money because I insisted that she be sent there as a maid," Takumi said holding his hands up at the two. "And she got there as a maid. I just…I…wasn't able to get her back," he said looking away to hide the pain on his face.

Ayako and Takigawa stared at each other for a moment before they turned to look at Takumi again.

"How did you know Yasuhara?" Ayako asked.

"A friend of mine worked for him," Takumi said. "My friend told me Yasuhara-san was looking for me. He told me he can help me make everything right with Mai-chan. So I took the chance and talked to him. Then Naru ordered me to-"

"Wait! NARU?" Ayako and Takigawa asked.

"Yes," Takumi said. "Yasuhara-san worked for Naru. When I got to talk to Yasuhara-san, he directed me to Naru. Naru paid me to go to England and falsify papers to get Mai out of the country. Since she's an illegal migrant worker, she would have to be in jail before she gets back here in Japan. Naru ordered me to make sure she didn't have to be sent to jail to get out of the country."

"So you know Naru too?" Takigawa asked.

Takumi smirked bitterly. "I saw him near her house once," he said. "And he worked in her place in the market when she was confined in the hospital here. I offered him a job as my business partner but he turned me down, telling me not to go anywhere near Mai-chan. I didn't know he was a rich kid until he got me to England using his own money."

Takigawa scowled.

Ayako shrugged her shoulders. "Well, that's Oliver Davis for you," she said.

"Why isn't he taking us to England using his own money?" Takigawa muttered. "We're like Mai's parents! We're practically going to be his in-laws if he decides to marry Mai-chan!"

Ayako rolled his eyes. "You just want to have his autograph," she teased.

"No, I don't!" Takigawa defended, his cheeks blushing.

"That reminds me," Ayako said. "So you know where they are now?"

"Yes, I do," Takumi answered. "I also know why they're there."

"Hey," Takigawa began looking unsurely away, scratching his head. "Do...do you also know about…um…Naru and Mai?" he asked shyly.

Takumi chuckled. "Yeah," he said. "I'm trying to move on from that. Thanks for reminding me."

"Eh? S-sorry," Takigawa said.

Ayako sighed. "Well, I think we can go back in the bar now since we're all calm and civilized people again."

Takumi and Takigawa stared at Ayako.

"You were the only one who was acting furious and uncivilized, you know," Takigawa said.

Ayako shyly turned away. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said chuckling loudly. "I'm hungry. Who's in for some yakiniku?"

Takigawa and Takumi rolled their eyes.


"Neh, Naru," Mai said as she sat beside the window of the bus.

They had finished shopping for meat, fish, and bread. They decided to ride the bus again since they had a lot of bags to carry home.

Naru spared Mai a glance.

He hadn't walked that interestingly in the market for years, and he felt a little tired.

"What did you and the seller talk about earlier?" Mai asked. "...The one we bought eggs from."

Naru stiffened.

"And I want a detailed translation of everything!" she said sending him a waring glare.

Naru sighed and looked away.

It couldn't be helped. She was bound to know anyway.

Mai waited for Naru to answer her.

One of these days, she would search the library for a book on learning to speak Dutch. That way, she would know why people in Amsterdam would talk about babies after they appreciate how she and Naru looked like.

"I asked him if the eggs he sold were organic," Naru said, recalling how the conversation began. "And how much he was selling them, and how much he was selling the non-organic ones."

Mai nodded. She figured the first part of the conversation had something to do with the eggs that the seller had on his stall. Naru held on of the eggs at one point of the conversation, if she wasn't mistaking."After that..?"

Naru thought for a moment.

How was he going to tell her that after he asked for a discount on the eggs, he told the seller that he and his wife were getting a dozen of the eggs?